Abstract

This collection consists of the military, business,
and family papers, 1775-1878, of William Perkins, captain in John Crane's
Battalion of Artillery and later commander of Castle Island in Boston
Harbor.

Biographical Sketch

William Perkins (1742 - October 27, 1802) was the son of William and
Elizabeth (Palfrey) Perkins of Boston. He married Abigail Cox in Boston on
December 20, 1763, and they had several children.

The military career of Perkins began in May 1775 when he was appointed
lieutenant in Gridley's Regiment of Massachusetts Artillery. He was appointed
captain in Knox's Regiment of Continental Artillery on December 10, 1775;
captain in the Third Continental Artillery on January 1, 1777; and promoted to
major on September 12, 1778, and lieutenant colonel by brevet on April 20,
1787. During his military career, Perkins served in Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. A notable episode in his career
was the service of his artillery unit in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the
spring of 1778. From 1779 to 1781 he oversaw military stores at Providence,
Rhode Island.

After the war, Perkins served as the commander of the fort on Castle Island
in Boston Harbor from 1785 to 1798. During his time at Castle Island, Perkins
corresponded with John Hancock and Samuel Adams. In 1798 Perkins was appointed
inspector and measurer of Boston. He died on October 27, 1802.

Collection Description

The William Perkins Papers are contained in two boxes, one narrow and one
oversize. The papers date from 1775 to 1878, and the bulk date from 1775 to
1801. The papers are divided into three series.

The Revolutionary War papers of William Perkins make up the first series.
The 139 documents in this series detail the career of Perkins as a captain in
Colonel John Crane's Battalion of Artillery in 1777 and 1778. Perkins served in
that role in New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island (most notably in Valley
Forge, Pennsylvania, in the late spring and early summer of 1778). The series
also documents Perkins service as a major from 1779 to 1781 when he oversaw
military stores at Providence, Rhode Island. Finally, the series includes
correspondence from 1783 to 1794 through which Perkins attempted to receive
additional compensation for his military service.

Business documents from the postwar career of Perkins spanning the years
1785 to 1801 are contained in the second series. The 31 documents in this
series cover the period he served as commander of the fort on Castle Island in
Boston Harbor and as inspector and measurer of Boston. Correspondence with
Mass. Gov. John Hancock is included in this series

Family papers created between 1782 and 1878 by Perkins and his descendants
are included in the third series. The 30 documents in the series include a
Perkins family tree covering seven generations, documents describing the lives
of the children of William Perkins, and nineteenth-century correspondence
between Perkins descendants.

Acquisition Information

The William Perkins Papers were a gift of James A. P. Homans on July 26,
2002. Photocopies of items in the collection relating to Rhode Island were
simultaneously deposited in the Rhode Island Historical Society Library by Mr.
Homans.

Detailed Description of the Collection

I. Military papers,
1775 - 1794, [1812]

This series has been divided into six subseries: correspondence, orders and
commissions, muster rolls, payroll records, returns, and equipment and clothing
receipts.

A. Correspondence,
1777 - 1794

Arranged chronologically within each box.

The Revolutionary War service of William Perkins is documented in this
subseries. The correspondence begins in 1777 when Perkins was a captain in
Colonel John Crane's Battalion of Artillery with a letter from Major General
Henry Knox ordering Perkins to raise a company in Peekskill, New York. Letters
to Perkins after he attained the rank of major date from 1779 to 1781 and
document his service overseeing military stores at Providence, Rhode Island.
Correspondence from 1783 to 1794 documents efforts by Perkins to collect
additional pay for his military service. A highlight of this subseries is a 1
April 1780 letter in which Perkins is ordered to find a carriage to transport a
nurse and her children "staying at the college" to their home in Charlestown
[Massachusetts] (Box 1, Folder 1).

Box 1Folder 1-3

Correspondence,
1777 - 1794

Box 2 (oversize)Folder 1

Oversize correspondence,
1783,
1789

B. Orders and commissions,
1777 - 1787

Arranged chronologically.

This subseries ranges from the undated appointment of William Perkins as
captain in Colonel John Crane's Battalion of Artillery to his appointment as
lieutenant colonel by brevet in 1787. Included are acts and resolves by the
Rhode Island General Assembly and the Rhode Island Council of War dating from
1779 to 1781 which concern the disposition of military stores housed at
Providence. Also included is the 1777 appointment of Seth Sprague as an ensign
in Captain Caleb Carr's company of the Rhode Island Militia (Sprague's
connection to Perkins is not clear). A highlight of this subseries is a 3 May
1783 finding by a West Point investigatory committee (on which Perkins served)
which orders a Lieutenant Campbell to apologize to Colonel Crane for slandering
him (Box 1, Folder 5).

Box 1Folder 4-5

C. Muster rolls,
1777 - 1778,
[1812]

Arranged chronologically.

The bulk of the documents in this subseries list the soldiers who served
under Captain William Perkins in Col. John Crane's Battalion of Artillery,
including those who served in 1778 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The subseries
begins with an unusually detailed February 1777 roll which provides soldiers'
birthplaces, ages, "complexions," hair color, eye color, and height. Additional
rolls document the service of the company at unstated locations from February
1777 to March 1778, at Valley Forge from April to June 1778, at an unstated
location in July 1778, and at Providence, Rhode Island, in September 1778. Also
included is a recreated roster of the Massachusetts Regiment of Artillery
created in or after 1812 by H. Burbeck, who stated that "old age, 93, must be
my apology of interlining" (Box 2, Folder 3).

Box 2 (oversize)Folder 2-3

D. Payroll records,
1776 - 1778

Arranged chronologically within each box.

Included in this subseries are payroll records of soldiers who served under
William Perkins from 1776 to 1778 in Col. John Crane's Battalion of Artillery.
Locations are not stated on many of the records, but those on which locations
are noted are datelined July 1776 at New York [City?]; December 1776 at "Camp
Penselvania;" February 1777 at Peekskill, [New York]; August 1777 at "Cross
Roads, Bucks County," [Pennsylvania]; and November 1777 at "Camp Whitemarsh
Church." The 31 July 1776 New York [City?] record is notable in that it states
that the men listed received "pay for our butter and pease" (Box 1, Folder
6).

Box 1Folder 6

Payroll records,
1776 - 1777

Box 2 (oversize)Folder 4

Oversize payroll records,
1777 - 1778

E. Returns,
1778 - 1781

Arranged chronologically.

This subseries includes returns dated from May 1778 to August 1781. The
earliest return was created at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and the remainder
were created at the following locations (all presumably in Rhode Island):
Providence, Greenwich, Newport, Tiverton, and Middleton. The 23 May 1778 return
is of special note as on the reverse it carries a receipt datelined Valley
Forge, 24 May 1778, which acknowledges the receipt of shirts, shoes, and
"stockens" sent to soldiers serving at Valley Forge "as a gift from the
Massachusetts state" (Box 2, Folder 5).

Box 2 (oversize)Folder 5-6

F. Equipment and clothing receipts,
1775 - 1781

Arranged chronologically.

This subseries documents is comprised of receipts which document the
standard issue of equipment and clothing used by soldiers who served under
Perkins. They also document the movements of William Perkins from Boston in
January 1776, to New York [City?] in July 1776, to Peekskill [New York] in
February 1777, to "Camp Cross Roads, Bucks County" [Pennsylvania] in August
1777, to various locations in Rhode Island from October 1778 to July 1781. The
earliest document in the William Perkins Papers, a receipt dated 8 July 1775,
is included in this subseries (Box 1, Folder 7).

Box 1Folder 7-10

II. Business papers,
1785 - 1801

This series has been divided into two subseries: papers covering the period
during which William Perkins served as commander of the fort on Castle Island
in Boston Harbor, and those covering the period he served as inspector and
measurer of the port of Boston.

A. Castle Island,
1785 - 1798

Arranged chronologically within each box.

Correspondence and other documents related to the service of William Perkins
as commander of the Castle Island fort are included in this subseries.
Documents range in date from 2 November 1785 (his appointment) to July 1798.
Included are four documents signed by Mass. Gov. John Hancock and dated 25
August 1787, 11 April 1788, 12 September 1788, and 19 March 1789 (Box 1, Folder
11; Box 2, Folder 7). A 10 October 1793 letter from Samuel Adams requests that
Perkins fire the guns of the castle during Hancock's funeral (Box 1, Folder
12).

Box 1Folder 11-12

Castle Island,
1785 - 1798

Box 2 (oversize)Folder 7

Oversize Castle Island,
1785 - 1798

B. Inspector and measurer of Boston,
1798 - 1801

Arranged chronologically.

Two documents are included in this subseries. The first is the 15 November
1798 appointment of Perkins to the post of inspector and measurer of Boston.
The second is a customs record of the vessel George William which arrived at
Boston from Tobago in December 1801 with a cargo of rum. The second item is not
signed by Perkins.

Box 1Folder 13

III. Family Papers,
1782 - 1878

This series is divided into three subseries: biographical and genealogical
papers, writings, and miscellaneous.

A. Biographical and genealogical papers,
1782 - 1878

This subseries includes a Perkins family tree [1871?], family letters
written between 1782 and 1856, a list of Perkins family domiciles from 1785 to
1799, receipts for child care from 1796 to 1797, a list of vital records of the
children of William Perkins, a description of the Perkins family crest, a
newspaper obituary of Elizabeth Perkins (the wife of William's son Samuel), and
correspondence with the Society of the Cincinnati dated 1826 and 1878.

Box 1Folder 14-15

Biographical and genealogical papers,
1782 - 1878

Box 2 (oversize)Folder 8

Oversize biographical and genealogical papers,
ca. 1871

B. Writings, n.d.

Two documents are included in this subseries. The first is an unsigned
patriotic address to "gentlemen of the military" on the occasion of an
unspecified anniversary. The subject is the Revolutionary War and the
possibility of renewed conflict, which suggests that it might have been written
during the period immediately preceding the War of 1812. The author of the
address states that he was a witness to the Revolutionary War and that he had
been absent from his native place "nearly twenty long years." The second
document is an unsigned poem entitled "On the Decease of a Late Eminent
Christian" which is a lamentation on the death of an unnamed wife and
mother.

Box 1Folder 16

C. Miscellaneous,
1790 - 1796,
1820

Arranged chronologically within each box.

Included in this subseries are items of unknown relation to the Perkins
family. They are a $20 check dated 1796 and signed by Aaron Burr, a signature
of Edward Everett clipped from a letter, two documents concerning the 1790
Middlesex County prosecution of Ezra Blood for the theft of a chain, and an
1820 land deed describing the transfer of Dorchester, Massachusetts, land from
John Amory to Jonathan Amory.

Preferred Citation

Access Terms

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ABIGAIL,
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